The department preferred not to release the identity of the officer, Lt. Justin Whitwell said Monday afternoon.

“He [the officer] has been transported, complaining of a neck injury and lower back injuries,” Brite said. “He was talking and alert, and the passenger/arrestee apparently had some knee injuries from being pushed forward into the screen.”

The officer was at the southbound stoplight of U.S. 31 and Spring Meade Boulevard, Brite said, when a driver in a white pickup truck crashed into the rear of the patrol car.

The police vehicle was then pushed into the rear of an empty charter bus, according to Brite.

The driver of the pickup truck also received medical attention at the scene, but no major injuries were identified.

The incident is under investigation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

“Being that we are involved with this, it will be their investigation,” Brite said.

A crew from Columbia Fire Department Station No. 5 was dispatched to assist in the incident.

Due to the incident, southbound traffic was diverted into a single lane between 10 and 11 a.m. and the route was eventually reopened.

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